Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War
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| Author | Sarmila Bose |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher | C. Hurst & Co. |
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Publication date
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1 April 2011 |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | |
Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War is a controversial book on the Bangladesh Liberation War written by Sarmila Bose.
Bose claims that allegations of genocide and rape by the Pakistan Army were exaggerated by Bangladesh and India. She presents interviews of some selected witnesses in favour of her opinion. She also accuses Bangladeshi liberation accounts of ignoring atrocities against Urdu-speaking people in East Pakistan. Bose's book implies a claim to being the 'first' to dissect the death toll of 3 million in 1971, but it has been termed as 'hollow' and 'self-promotional' as researchers like Zunaid Kazi had already documented 12 different media estimates of death tolls. Some of the books on Pakistan Army's atrocity during 1971, written by Pakistanis were termed as 'limited' by Bose. Sarmila Bose has responded to three of her most notable critics – Naeem Mohaiemen, Urvashi Butalia, and Srinath Raghavan – in an academic publication.
Bose's study has been criticised by various historians and academics for numerous inaccuracies and excessive reliance on Pakistani military and government sources, thereby giving a low estimate of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. Researchers have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, historical revisionism and downplayingwar crimes. In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference. Bose has been criticised for her bias towards Pakistani Army in the language she deploys – Bangladeshi accounts are labelled "claims", Pakistani officers' accounts are straightforward accounts. Bose's impartiality has also been questioned due to her role as an advocate of US arms sales to Pakistan.
Bose has been criticised long before publishing the book for her research methodologies. She accepts the statement of Pakistani Brigadier Taj that no women were tortured in Rajarbag to be true even though Taj was not present during the operation. But she invalidates the testimony of an eye witness of the incidents of rape done by Pakistani Army as the witness is illiterate. In another case, she asserted that since one rape victim feared for her life, she must have consented to having sex with Pakistani soldiers.
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